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I just spoke to "Early Show" anchor Harry Smith about his contentious interview with Tony Snow this morning.

Snow is "very good at the give and take," Smith told me. "It's very interesting, because there are others that when you confront them with certain realities, they react defensively or angrily. He reacts with smile on his face."

Smith said he only knows Snow through their on-camera conversations. He may have developed an approach for how to deal with the press secretary, he said, from watching Snow in the press room.

"If you watch his briefings, you'll see that he has a pretty spirited conversation often times," said Smith. "I think maybe some months ago I took cues from that." Smith said it was clear that Snow is "a big boy."

"His job is to put the best face on [the administration's] performance, and perhaps all I'm trying to do is say 'there's the truth, and there's your version of the truth,'" said Smith.

I pointed out that Snow had accused Smith of bring his own facts to the discussion.

"He knows how to fight back," said Smith. "It's not like he doesn't come with weapons."

Whenever "Early Show" anchor Harry Smith interviews White House press secretary Tony Snow, there's a good chance for fireworks. Back in March, we noted a contentious exchange between the two in which Snow said, "Harry, you're sounding like a partisan rather than a reporter here."

This morning we got another battle between the two, which you can watch by clicking on the video box. Around the two and a half minute mark, there was this exchange:

Smith: But the other question that comes up then, is that if the president can't get this [immigration bill] done, in which he has placed so much of his own prestige and will and everything else, does this not show that he is a lame duck?

Snow: Well, let's flip it around. The president just came back from a G-8 session where when everybody went they said "well here's George W. Bush. The whole world's against him on climate change. Guess what? He goes to the G-8, leads the way on climate change, leads the way on development, leads the way on AIDS…"

Smith: No I think that's following on climate change. He's following on climate change.

Snow: No I don't think so…

Smith: These other countries have set the table on this for years. The president is late to this table. You can't flip that around.

Snow: No, Harry, you can't have your own facts.

At that point, Smith lets out an exasperated laugh. Then the two interrupt each other a few more times and Smith laughs again at Snow's comments. Check it out.

Check out this contentious exchange between CBS anchor Harry Smith and White House press secretary Tony Snow that took place on the "Early Show" this morning. To get the full effect, click on the video box to watch. You can also read portions below:

Tony Snow: What we're hoping is members of the House and Senate will take a close look at the offer we made. It's going to make available to them every shred of information that they need to figure out what happened in terms of the decision process.

Harry Smith: I think the people in the House and the Senate are pretty aware of what the deal is, and that is basically you've offered a chat…

Tony Snow: No, wait…

Harry Smith: No, no, no, go down to the Hill…

Tony Snow: No, no, wait, Harry. What you've done is you've framed the issue falsely. So let me help you out a little bit…

…


Harry Smith: Tony, even from a cursory look at these e-mails it looks like it reaches much farther than the Justice Department.

Tony Snow: No, it doesn't. What it means -- if you take a look at the e-mails, Harry, it appears there were some communications like "what we're thinking about"…

Harry Smith: Karl Rove wasn't involved, Harriet Miers wasn't involved, come on.

Tony Snow: This is where -- I think what you're trying to do is create a narrative that I'm not so sure the facts are going to justify. This is why what we're trying to do is to get everybody to figure out what's the deal. Let me start again…

Harry Smith: Hang on, hang on…

Tony Snow: Let me explain this point…

Harry Smith: Perception…

Tony Snow: Harry, come on…

Harry Smith: No, listen…

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Dump This: Writes Josh Gerstein: "A time-honored Washington practice of trying to extinguish, pre-empt, or redirect news coverage by dumping stacks of previously secret government documents on the press may be in for some changes after a headlong collision with hundreds of liberal Web loggers in the wee hours of yesterday morning." Two nights ago, the Justice Department delivered over 3,000 pages of records to Congress related to the US attorneys firings. News organizations couldn't quickly go through the files in full, but an army of bloggers, lead by tpmmuckracker.com, could – and did. As attorney Mark Fabiani told the Sun: "It could really change the way things get done."

"An Earthquake": That pro-Obama anti-Hillary viral video attack ad has now been viewed more than a million times on YouTube – much more than any of the candidates' official videos. (Explains the Washington Post: "It's a 'mash-up' of Ridley Scott's 1984 Super Bowl commercial that portrayed IBM as an Orwellian Big Brother and introduced Apple's Macintosh as the bright new vanguard of computing. But now it's Big Sister, [Hillary] Clinton, vs. the upstart, Sen. Barack Obama.") Writes CBS News' Harry Smith: "Anyone with a Mac and a mouse and a good idea can create and deliver political propaganda — and...if the message is interesting enough, it will be viewed by the masses. Blogs have changed the political landscape, but this is an earthquake."

Oops: On Monday, gossip columnists Rush & Molloy wrote an item about CBS News that did not meet the highest of journalistic standards. Brian Stelter over at TVNewser laid it all out:

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Are You There Harry? It's Me, Condi: Harry Smith interviewed Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice this morning on the "Early Show," but it's something she said off the record that caught our attention. Reuters reports that Rice was overheard on an open microphone giving her opinion of a few media personalities. "My Fox guys, I love every single one of them," Rice said to an aid "in comments monitored by Reuters on a television feed." She also has a soft spot for Smith, whom she says she would like to sit down with next time she's in Iraq. "He's a decent guy. I know they are like 55 in the ratings, but I like him," Rice said. For the record: I think 55 might be an exaggeration.

Freedom From Speech: The president's speech last night came in at a brisk 20 minutes, and "ABC, CBS and NBC scurried back to regular programming as fast as they could," notes Tom Shales. One e-mailer to Public Eye was not a fan of that decision: "Last night CBS aired President Bush's speech about Iraq, yet you chose not to air Dick Durbin's response on behalf of the Congressional Democratic majority. Could you really not spare a few more minutes? You are telling your viewers that at this critical moment in our nation's history, the President's opinion matters but the Congress's view does not." He's not alone. Writes Howard Kurtz: "I know that NBC, CBS and ABC were anxious to get back to their entertainment fare. But given the gravity of the issue, couldn't they have allotted another 10 minutes before returning to the likes of 'Deal or No Deal' and 'Criminal Minds'? They also thumbed their nose at the concept of equal time by blowing off Dick Durbin's Democratic response." CBS, it turns out, stayed with speech coverage until 9:28, slightly later than its two rivals.

But Hey, Who Needs TV?: If you want to look "classy and smart," that is.

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Tomorrow, "Early Show" anchor Harry Smith is heading to Los Angeles to cover the Oscars. For reporters, covering the ceremony can be a grueling experience. I talked to Smith about what he expects.

The "Early Show," he says, will have a hotel room set up in case the stars want to do a sit down interview, as well as a spot on the red carpet from which Smith can call out to the boldface names in hopes they come over to chat. "It's so glamorous," he says, laughing. The experience, he says, can be nerve-wracking, because if the stars don't show up at the Governor's Ball or fail to come over to chat, "it can be a pathetic waste of time." ("Early Show" producers have been working the phones to try and "massage relationships" and set up interviews in advance.) Tomorrow, when he arrives in Los Angeles, Smith plans to attend an afternoon picnic with many of the stars – though he won't be covering it. "It's a chance to schmooze," he says. "It's one more way to say, 'don't forget me when you get your Oscar tomorrow.'"

But in a "crazily competitive" environment like the Oscars, getting interviews is always a challenge. Last year, the "Early Show" scored a long, sit down interview with Jamie Foxx, but when Lord Of The Rings won in 2004, the show was unable to get face time with the winners. So Smith had to improvise. "I snuck in past the security, into the Governor's Ball, which isn't a good idea, by the way," he says. "I found Peter Jackson, who I'd met before, and he remembered me, and I said, 'If I can just get 4 minutes, that would be great.' He's sitting at the table with all of his friends, all these Oscars at the table, and they're calling people in New Zealand and having a great time. So I just said, you know, 'I'll wait.'" I stood near his table for maybe an hour. Finally, when he got up to leave, I went over to him and was able to bring him over to our camera, and we got the interview."

Once the awards are given out, it can become much harder to score a particular interview. "They really do campaign for these Oscars, and when they're campaigning it's pretty easy to get them," says Smith. "But when the campaign is over it's a whole different story – winner or loser."

As for the Oscar night parties, Smith says he doesn’t try to attend as a guest. "By the time we're done at Governor's Ball, it's time to wash your face and pretend to close your eyes for an hour," he says. "And then we go in and cut the pieces. We're on the air at 4 A.M. local time."

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